The Violence Tool Installation

Requirements & Warnings for Fred’s projects

Important

The Violence Layer Manager is designed for a specific Grease Pencil workflow. It will not work with arbitrary GP objects.

Your Grease Pencil Object MUST have:

1. Multi-layer format — Layers named and organized according to the Violence Tool convention (Body, Head, Eyes, Mouth, etc.)

2. Material slot setup — The 1234/QWER/ASDF material slot configuration

3. Blender 4.1.1 or higher — The add-on uses GPencil APIs introduced in Blender 4.x

If your object doesn’t match this format:

• The layer switching operators will fail silently

• The panel buttons won’t select the correct layers

• You may see errors in the Blender console

What if I want to use this for my own project?

This is welcome, but could involve some organization that might be unique to your project, depending on your style.

1. Practice with the files included here, using the default setup to get an idea of how the system works

2. Look through our documentation on ::doc::alt-setups from other users (under construction)

3. Play around and find your personal workflow

4. Consider sharing with us what you discovered!

Prerequisites:

• Blender 4.1.1 or higher (The add-on uses GPencil APIs introduced in Blender 4.x).

• A Grease Pencil object with the correct layer/material structure (the addon will help with this)

• It can be helpful - but not necessary, to have a monitor tablet with pressure sensitivity.

Installing

Step 1: Install the Add-on

1. Save the Script: * Save the TheViolenceLayerManager.py file to a location on your computer. * Tip: You can also run it directly from Blender’s Text Editor, but saving it allows for permanent installation.

2. Open Preferences: * In Blender, go to Edit → Preferences.

3. Install: * Click the Add-ons tab. * Click the Install… button (top left). * Navigate to your saved TheViolenceLayerManager.py file and select it.

4. Enable: * Find “The Violence: Grease Pencil Layer Manager” in the list (or search for “Violence”). * Check the box to enable it. * Click Save Preferences (bottom left) to ensure it loads on startup.

Note

You don’t need to do this on files that are already set up by Fred, like an inbetween or test file. However, when a revision comes out, you may want to update, in which case you’ll need to re-‘run’ the script.

5. Initializing the script

   • Open the python panel in Blender

   • Press the play button at the top of the window.

Note

‘Playing’ the script file will rewrite the changes you may have made to it, if any.

Step 2: Verify Installation

1. Open the Sidebar in the 3D View (press N if hidden).

2. Click the Fred tab.

3. You should see the LAYER SELECTOR panel with buttons for “Body”, “Head”, “Eyes”, etc.

4. Press your assigned hotkey to see the Layer Switcher menu.

Step 3: Configure Keybindings (Recommended)

For optimal workflow, we highly recommend configuring specific keyboard shortcuts. See the How to change keybinds in Blender (4.1.1) page for detailed setup instructions on:

• Holding Alt to nudge lines while drawing

• Using F to change sculpt radius

• Quick-switching between Draw, Erase, Sculpt, and Fill modes with single keys

• Toggling “Fade Inactive Layers”

Note

These keybindings are optional but will significantly improve your efficiency when using The Violence Layer Manager.

Once installed, you can find Onboarding & Practice Files to get your practice files.

Before assuming something is broken, check these common issues:

• The file won’t open? Ensure you are using Blender 4.1.1+.

The panel is empty or buttons do nothing.

Check: Does your active Grease Pencil object match the required layer/material structure? Fix: Ensure the object is selected and correctly configured. How:

1. Select the Grease Pencil object in the 3D Viewport.

2. Check the Object Data Properties tab (green pencil icon).

3. Verify that the layers are named correctly (e.g., “Body”, “Head”, “Eyes”) and have the correct material slots assigned.

4. See the Installing section for the exact setup.